Near-death Experiences Make Great First Dates
by megapidgeots
Summary: Set a few months after Stakes, Princess Bubblegum has been sneaking out with Marceline regularly- some night are more eventful than others.


"Princess?" Peppermint Butler called as he knocked on her door again. No response. With a sigh, he opened the door to find just what he had expected- the room was empty, blankets hastily shoved aside and window flung open, letting in an achingly cold midnight breeze. Not a couple of years ago, the sight would have sent him running for a phone immediately to call Finn and Jake, but that was no longer the case. If Princess Bubblegum _had_ been stolen, she'd have to wait out the night, because she was gallivanting with Marceline until proven otherwise at this point.

Peppermint Butler rolled his eyes and began to clean the Princess' room. It wasn't that he disliked Marceline- he was on good terms with her father, and it was good to see the Princess letting herself have fun again. That being said, he did not appreciate the fact that he had to spend an extra half hour twice per week _at least_ cleaning up after the two had made their not-so-stealthy escape into the night. He picked up Bubblegum's crown, carelessly tossed on the floor, and placed it on her bedside table, and wondered for a moment if he should be more worried. He promptly disregarded his thought- she'd survived over eight hundred years with minimal intervention on his part. He was sure she was in no danger.

* * *

Loud howls and barks echoed through the long-abandoned tunnels. The sound was accompanied by loud crackling sounds and excited panting, and with the sounds came fire.

"Okay Marcy, I'm gonna throw this bomb-" Bonnie stumbled over a rock in her path but quickly balanced herself again, continuing to run with quick glances behind her. She tried to ignore the flames that angrily lapped at her ankles and sent sharp pains up her legs, "And then I'm gonna jump and you're gonna catch me. Okay, three, two, one," she tossed the pocket-sized explosive behind her before hurtling off the cliff into blackness. For a split second, fear gripped her, like claws raking down her throat and chest, but it was quickly cast away when her body landed safely on a large, furry body.

She let out a sigh of relief, which turned into hesitant giggles, before erupting into barking laughter as Marceline carefully shape-shifted around her into her typical humanoid form. She grinned that big, silly, toothy grin that only made Bonnie laugh harder until tears were streaming down her face and she'd almost forgotten why just a moment ago they'd been scared and running for their lives.

That feeling didn't last long.

A rumbling resonated around them, climbing up from the endless drop below and spilling from the openings on either side of the pit. Bonnie felt Marceline's arms tighten around her as the walls of the hole began to split and crumble and smoke began to drift downwards. She whispered something Bonnie didn't quite catch as the Princess adjusted herself in an attempt to gauge their surroundings, but that wasn't much use anyway. She was practically glued in her position against Marceline, her head rested in the crook of the other girl's neck. She wouldn't be upset about that under regular circumstances, but in one where being able to observe her surroundings could save her life, it wasn't something she was really stopping to enjoy. She was about to ask Marceline to help her position herself, but the words caught in her throat as Marceline flew upwards, quicker than Bonnie had known she could.

She felt Marceline's body begin to grow and shift around her, causing Bonnie to cling tighter to Marceline to the point where she would be concerned about her breathing if she had needed to breathe. She heard a loud crash, some crumbling, felt fire begin to lap at her ankles again, and then icy air. She has her face buried against Marceline, eyes clenched shut, but slowly the sounds and the heat of the fire began to disappear and she allowed herself to open her eyes. Marceline was grinning from ear-to-ear, and when Bonnie's eyes met hers she erupted into laughter, burying her face in Bonnie's gummy hair. Bonnie felt heat crawling up her face, and a smile formed even though she knew that logically she should still be in panic mode- she was a _Princess!_ She could have _died_ just now.

"Holy _glob_ Bon, that was something else," Marceline said between fits of giggles, which she probably would have described as 'chuckles'- Marceline was too cool for giggles, or some nonsense. They were giggles, though. When her arms moved away from Bonnie's waist she almost panicked before realizing they were safely on the ground. She stepped away, glancing rapidly at their surroundings. They were only a hundred or so meters from the tunnels they'd been in, but that was probably far enough. With a sigh, she collapsed onto the grass, not caring what a mess her hair would be. It would probably be easier to construct new hair than to pick all the dirt out.

Whatever.

Marceline sat next to her- actually sat- didn't even float, and looked up at the night sky. Bonnie felt a smile growing across her face again as she looked at her friend, still grinning wide, eyes sparkling, "Oh!" Marceline exclaimed, digging in her pocket. She pulled out what appeared to be a fairly generic blue bracelet- made out of plastic from what she could gather, "I managed to get it!"

Bonnie sat up, taking the bracelet in her hand. She slipped it on, off again, nothing, "Uh, with what, exactly?"

Marceline rolled her eyes, but her grin gave away the fact that she wasn't actually annoyed, "Bonnie, I thought you were like, a walking book of everything- this baby's gonna let me breathe underwater."

Bonnie blinked, "Marceline?"

"Hmm?"

"You don't need to breathe."

Marceline's expression dropped, turning the bracelet over in her hand for a moment, "Uh yeah, but like, uh," she grabbed Bonnie's hand, which made Bonnie blush again- _oh calm_ down _Bonnibel_ \- and slipped the bracelet onto her, "but you do. I always meant to get it for you."

As she finished speaking she looked away, blushing and picking at the grass with her hands. Bonnie smiled and leaned against her, "I missed this," she breathed.

She felt Marceline's body shake with laughter, "What, almost dying?"

Bonnie positioned herself so that she was facing Marceline, trying to push away thoughts of how close their faces were and how nice Marceline's eyes were and the million other thoughts that raced through her head every time she looked at the vampire these days. She smiled, "Honestly, yeah?" she sighed, "I missed adventuring with you. When the Kingdom got bigger, I just, had to be inside all the time, working on some new experiment or method of defense, or method of defense _against_ an experiment or whatever," she motioned with her hands as she spoke, "after a while it just seemed stagnant, you know? Like I was trudging along and years and _decades_ were slipping by and nothing was really happening."

Marceline's gaze softened, her ears tilting back slightly, "I missed it too, Bonnie. Getting into trouble alone gets old."

Bonnie grinned, "I missed almost dying, and getting these," she motioned to her wrist, "silly, amazing things out of them that maybe I'll never use but who cares? We kicked _butt_ to get it," she paused, "I missed saving _your_ sorry butt."

Marceline smirked, "Right back 'atcha, Peebs."

She leaned against her friend, smiling as she felt Marceline awkwardly move her hand, unsure where to rest it, before placing it on her shoulder, "You know what I missed _most_ of all, though?"

"What's that?"

"Seeing that big _dork_ grin you get whenever we get away with something stupid."

The previously mentioned 'big dork grin' Marceline had been wearing disappeared immediately, "I don't have a dork grin!" she protested, her voice cracking.

Bonnie laughed, lying back down onto the grass, "Okay, sure Marcy."

Marceline began to pick at the grass again, avoiding Bonnie's gaze. A knot of apprehension began to form in her stomach, "Marcy?" she whispered, reaching out to touch her friends hand. Marceline flinched, but didn't pull away.

"Bonnie?" Marceline asked, her voice shaky and barely audible.

Bonnie sat up, trying to meet Marceline's gaze, but the other girl was thoroughly focused on the patch of grass to her right, "What is it?"

Marceline pushed herself into a standing position, fists clenched at her sides. Bonnie stared at her, confusion and growing, bubbling apprehension threatening to overwhelm her. Marceline didn't look angry, though- scared?

Marceline took a deep breath, met Bonnie's gaze, looked away again, then another deep breath. Bonnie stood up and hesitantly rested a hand on her shoulder. Marceline moved back a pace in response, so Bonnie didn't try that again, and oh _Glob_ was that hard, because Marceline, although she didn't want to admit it, was kind of scaring her.

Another deep breath.

"I," she paused again, "I had this big speech planned but, _Glob,"_ another pause, "I don't think I ever got over my little crush _thing_ , and like, I dunno, I kinda want to kiss you, I guess," she threw her hands into the air, "or, like, whatever, you know?"

Bonnie felt frozen, her muscles tense with shock, barely registering how she was feeling- confusion, fear, and, was she being impulsive? She didn't care- joy, excitement, and something else beyond that that she couldn't quite describe.

"Bonnie? Okay, listen, I'm sorry, big joke, I swear, uh," she was cut off by Bonnie resting a shaking hand on her shoulder, "Bonnie?"

Bonnie struggled for a moment to contain her big, silly grin. She decided she didn't care enough to. She grinned widely at Marceline, earning a big, toothy, beautiful, dorky grin that she loved in response. Her hands fiddled with the fabric of the other girl's faded, worn, gray shirt as she stepped forward to fill the small gap between them. She looked up at Marceline, who was floating slightly so she'd be taller than Bonnie- she always did that.

"Kissing sounds nice."

* * *

 **Notes:** I thought about this while at work and then wrote it between three essays I had due as stress relief. I think it's funny that Marcy is usually written as smooth and stuff. Have you seen the people she was raised with? She wanted to date Hambo when she was a teenager. Marceline Abadeer is a dork. Also I uploaded this for like a half hour a few days ago but I wanted to make some changes so uhHHH yeah. I'm working on a slow-burn college au thing so also expect that within the next while. Hopefully.


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